With many of our rights and freedoms under assault at this time, it makes sense to honor our Founding Fathers for the work that they did over two centuries ago.

When they had experienced enough tyranny from King George III of England, when their pleas and requests were shunned or ignored, when the Brits ordered trade blockades, and more, much much more, they went to war and drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1776. They did so knowing full well that it would mean losing everything if the Revolutionary War was lost. But America prevailed. It won its freedom.

They were quite learned men, many of them knew historically what had made for good and for bad governments, knowing full well that a good government was one that did not encroach upon the citizenry. Yes, they haggled and argued and compromised. But they never lost sight of the end result and that was the United States Constitution, formally signed exactly 230 years ago today, on September 17, 1787.

The document that our Founding Fathers created and signed was like no other ever devised, especially when the Bill of Rights was added on December 15, 1791. Our freedom, as long as the US Constitution is followed, is guaranteed.

There are those who question a document 200+ years old and how it can be relevant today. There is an easy answer. In the manner in which it was written. There were no time-specific conditions, other than handling the then-current debt. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were created by forward-looking men, men who knew the world would change and provided us with something that could and would grow with us.

It is unfortunate, however, that we have allowed that precious document to be “interpreted” to mean what it does not say. As one example, when the Courts decided that prayers could not be said in school those justices were violating our Constitution. If there are some who do not wish to pray in school, that is fine. But there is nothing unconstitutional about saying prayer in school. Period.

Losing that portion of one of our rights should infuriate any Patriot because what follows is that there are other rights, other freedoms that get taken from us, gradually and (now) generally under the guise of “national security.” We need to watch our present-day politicians, as they are not statesmen of 200 years ago who carry on open discussion, and even arguments, to reach a consensus of what is right “for the people.” No, politicians of today are bought and paid for by myriad individuals and concerns.

Forgive me as I have strayed from my original thought, thanking our Founding Fathers for their excellent work. For their work should be admired as much as it should be followed. Incredible documents outlining our rights, our freedoms, our liberty.

In our movie, In Search of Liberty, we educate all Americans, in a dramatic yet humorous manner, the basics of what exactly the US Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee us, i.e., “We the People.” All those who have viewed it come away new information they did not know before and with a renewed sense of both pride and purpose as an American.

On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, the United States of America elected a new president. His name is Donald J. Trump. He is a billionaire businessman who was, basically, fed up with the direction our country was headed. Though the mainstream media did all they could to derail him, he beat the entitled Hillary Rodham Clinton.

And what did her followers do? They took to the streets and rioted, among other things. How is it that people become so unhinged because a candidate of their choice was not victorious? Or is it true that George Soros is paying people to commit these actions?

I do not recall this type of behavior from conservatives when Barack Hussein Obama was elected in 2008, nor in 2012, subjecting us to four more years of his socialist-leaning leadership.

One can only hope that the people who are rioting come to their senses, because their actions certainly do not paint a pretty picture for the supposedly “tolerant” left wing liberals.

Regardless of all of that, America does indeed have a new president.

What kind of man is he?

He has been called every horrible name in the book by those on the far and not-so-far left, and especially by HRC, at every opportunity. Indeed, they are very good at name calling.

Trump has been accused of being anti-women, yet Kellyanne Conway managed his successful campaign, Pam Bondi is on his transition team, and there are several women holding key positions in his businesses and his charity.

He has been accused of being a racist, yet Dr. Ben Carson is someone he definitely wants in his cabinet, especially to overhaul/repeal Obamacare. And what about Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke who is being considered for Homeland Security.

He has been accused of being a homophobe, yet a person who may be appointed as the UN Ambassador is Richard Grenell, an openly gay man, and then there is Peter Thiel, another gay, who is part of Trump’s transition team.

It would be great if people opened their eyes and looked instead of just listening to ugly rhetoric that is spewed about.

Trump is a man who knows that you best succeed by having the best people around you. And that is what he plans to do when he takes the oath of office on January 20, 2017. He will have the best and brightest in his cabinet and other key positions that must be filled between now and that time. And, with that, he will restore America to greatness.

Welcome Donald J. Trump, our 45th President of the United States of America!

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

South facade of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

Declaration of Independence & George Washington in front of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

[The document was signed by 56 delegates from the 13 Colonies.]

It would be wise for all Americans to reflect upon the Founding Fathers and what they and so many people, then and since, have fought to bring about and defend. Freedom unlike any nation before has achieved for its citizens but now in danger of losing those very freedoms, slowly but surely, through the arrogant actions of career politicians who answer to their donors and not to the people of the land – those very same public servants who serve themselves, not the public.

The road to the NBA Finals for the defending champion Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers could not have been more different.

The Dubs sailed through a historic regular season with a record breaking 73-9 (.890) mark, eclipsing the previous high by the legendary 1996 Chicago Bulls by one win. When they hit the Western Conference Playoffs it was a bit different. They handled Houston (4-1) and Portland (4-1) fairly easily, but they were facing a 1-3 deficit after four games to the #3 Oklahoma City Thunder (who took the #2 seed San Antonio Spurs out 4-2). Turning on the fight, the Warriors came back, taking the final three, hard-fought games. Honestly, any of the last three games could have gone either way, but the Thunder fell short when it mattered most.

The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a respectable 57-25 (.695) record. As with the Dubs, when they hit the Eastern Conference Playoffs things were different. For the Cavs, they demolished and demoralized their opponents, though that is not to say there were not close games. They took out the Detroit Pistons 4-0 and did the same to the Atlanta Hawks. With homecourt advantage in the Eastern Finals the Cavs took the first two from the #2 seed Toronto Raptors, then slipped and lost both in Canada. Having no more of that, the Wine & Gold erupted in the final two, with blowout victories to take their second straight Eastern Conference title.

AFP Photo/Beck Diefenbach

Thus, the stage was set for an epic showdown between the Warriors and the Cavaliers. Last year, without Love (at all) and Irving (after game one, which they lost), LeBron James led his team to capture the next two games, taking a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, the depth of the Dubs overcame James’ incredible performances to win the next three games.

How familiar does this now sound?

After four games this year, the Dubs held a significant 3-1 edge and then things started falling apart with the suspension of Draymond Green for his flagrant fouls throughout the playoffs and finals (at least the ones where the refs blew the whistle on him) and in game 5 Andrew Bogut damaged his left knee and was lost for the remainder of the run. All of a sudden, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving imposed their collective wills and took the next two games, tying it at 3-3.

In the process, in game 5 James and Irving both scored 41 points, the first time teammates had each scored 40+ in a finals game. James followed in game 6 with another 41.

Ron Schwane/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports

I am not going to debate things like Dubs Coach Steve Kerr calling out refs for fouling out Stephen Curry. They didn’t. Steph did. Period. Nor about Curry’s wife tweeting that the games are rigged, though that comment itself is really quite insane. The refs have a damn hard job and they are very good at officiating. I would love those who complain step in and do a better job. Or even as good. Really, I would love to see that!

Watching games, I see a lot of contact going on that I would call if I were on the floor. I see Green (and others, to be sure) get away with lots of fouls. If you really want to nit-pick, every player on every team gets away with holding, blocking, moving fouls every game. When they get caught … they complain … so what … play ball. And don’t throw your mouthpiece. Lastly, regardless of what Charles Barkley says, don’t hit anyone in their privates. Ever. IMHO any shot like that is pretty much automatic ejection. Especially kicking.

And, a side note on fouls. I abhor when a shooter, especially beyond the arc, jumps forward into a defender (wildly flailing the ball in the air) to engineer a foul. That is not a defensive foul. Period. It has no place in the game. Similar to flopping.

Back to the topic at hand … yes, this year’s series had more drama … different drama. And game 7 was a game to anticipate and wonder whose will and talent was going to best their opponent. This would be the 19th game 7 in league history. And no team had ever come back from a 1-3 deficit to take the crown.

This Game 7 was the kind of game we really wanted to see in every one of them. Tough. Close. Competitive. Lots of lead changes. Down to the wire.

A blocked shot by James that would have given the Dubs a 2-point advantage. A beautiful beyond-the-arc shot by Irving, taking the Cavs up by three. A free throw by James for some icing, with 10 seconds left. Two missed attempts at the opposite end. It was over.

The result was a LeBron James triple double (27-11-11), with overall good support from his team, and a couple of firsts – the first time that Cleveland has ever won an NBA Championship and the first NBA team to ever win the title after having been down 3 games to 1. Quite an accomplishment.

Oh, one other first. James is the first player to lead both teams in the Finals in 1) Points, 2) Assists, 3) Rebounds, 4) Blocks, and 5) Steals. That is over the top! Scores by game:

Associated Press named Muhammad Ali (Jan 17, 1942 – Jun 3, 2016) the “No. 1 heavyweight of the 20th century.” Sports Illustrated named him “Sportsman of the Century” while the BBC agreed, citing him as “Sports Personality of the Century.”

Image by Thomas Hoepker, 1966 Chicago

At 18 he won the Summer Olympics light heavyweight gold medal in Rome, Italy, and at 22, as a strong underdog, he defeated Sonny Liston for the professional heavyweight title, becoming the youngest person to take the title from the then-current holder.

Throughout his career, and beyond, the retired champion fought more than just his opponents. The Champ was a strong and vocal advocate of civil rights and it is said that he even inspired Martin Luther King Jr.

Over five decades ago, young Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. addressed a room full of journalists and announced that he had converted to Nation of Islam. Further, he let them know that he was changing his name to Muhammad Ali. This announcement was met with great hostility and his response was, “I don’t have to be what you want me to be.”

That stance, that statement, that backbone, helped define the champion and greatly assisted the civil rights movement in America and around the world.

The Greatest and the Beatles by Autore Sconosciuto, Public domain

A cultural phenomena, Ali was sentenced to five years in prison for draft evasion during the Vietnam conflict, holding to his religious belief as a conscientious objector. In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction because the Appeal Board gave no reason for the denial of his conscientious objector exemption.

When he retired at the age of 40, his pro record was 56-5, while earlier compiling a 100-5 amateur record. He was never one to quit, always fighting for what he believed in. He said, “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it.”

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

Within two years after his retirement, the legend was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome, a disease that commonly results from severe and repeated head trauma. Not to be slowed, he remained active for years. He made many notable accomplishments over the following decades and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 and the Liberty Medal in 2012.

On the date of Ali’s 19th wedding anniversary (Nov 19, 2005), the non-profit Muhammad Ali Center opened in his hometown, Louisville, Kentucky. Sitting along the riverfront, the $60 million center displays many items from his boxing career as well as highlighting peace, personal growth, respect and social responsibility. Of the center, he says, “For many years I have dreamed of creating a place to share, teach and inspire people to be their best and to pursue their dreams.”

Since the time of his diagnosis, Ali also fought back, specifically through the establishment and funding of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. He created the annual Celebrity Fight Night events, responsible for raising over $123 million to combat the disease. One thing he firmly believed is “The service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”

Concerning life, he said, “People look for miracles. People look for surprises of all kinds. Yet the greatest wonder, the greatest miracle, the greatest surprise, is to be found in ones heart.”